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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22527883">Volume 1: Ruby Hearts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx'>Valentine20xx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>RWBY: Augmentation [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Summer Rose (RWBY) Lives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:06:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,639</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22527883</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>During a routine mission, Ruby discovers the Augment, technology from a time long since passed, and part of what happened to her mother 15 years ago. This one revelation changes many things during her second semester at Beacon Academy, as Team RSPBRY fight to protect their friends and family from the seemingly invincible Grimm, and their leader, Salem...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Ruby Rose &amp; Summer Rose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>RWBY: Augmentation [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620859</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lost Technology</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>RWBY © Monyreak ‘Monty’ Oum and Rooster Teeth. Keep Moving Forward.<br/>This story will divert from RWBY canon fairly quickly, but will most divert during the latter part of the Vytal Tournament. Anything else… Just watch the series first.<br/>The chapter lengths are, maximum, around 2000 words because, well, how else do you translate something with episode lengths of only around 10-15 minutes long?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was no-one in the entire of Vale who knew what the facility had been researching, not that anyone truly cared. It was one of several, seemingly from the time before Grimm, research laboratories, the research effectively lost due to abandonment and no-one with the knowledge to apply it, with even Atlas throwing their hands up and effectively shrugging.</p><p>All that most of RWBY cared about it, as they explored as part of their mandated roles as Huntresses, that it might be where some White Fang were holed up, or, even better, Roman Torchwick; the criminal whose robbery of a dust store had gotten Ruby Rose into Beacon two years ahead of the curve, thanks to her trying to stop him.</p><p>Her presence and position as the team leader of RWBY was something that her teammates appreciated more than they’d admit. Even if she was the shortest member of their team, she had enough confidence for all of them, and she knew what she was talking about more often than not.</p><p>Over their current work, They knew that anything viable had been stripped out by either the Schnee Dust Company or Atlas’s government itself long ago, and doubted they’d find anything concrete, so this task was more like a way to test their abilities outside of Beacon, and also follow up on what had happened at the docks in the middle of their first semester.</p><p>However, it would be so going much easier, if one of them wasn’t studying all the broken devices like a child in an antique toy store; her odd quirk with technology, especially weapons, coming seriously to the fore as she prodded and poked at almost everything.</p><p>“All of these things… They don’t contain Dust...” Ruby declared, “What powers them?”</p><p>“Remind me never to take your sister to Atlas, unless it’s an emergency...” Blake hissed softly, “She’d be a liability...”</p><p>“When she first arrived, she was more interested in the weapons than the wielders…” Yang hissed back, “We do not go into her hand-making one of the most lethal weapons in the Academy…”</p><p>“Not everything uses Dust...” Weiss stated, ignoring her teammates, “The things built in this facility used power supplies fed from an off-site location...”</p><p>“And no, we’re not going to go into great detail on that...” Yang stated, simply, “And don’t even ask what half of this stuff was meant to do,”</p><p>“We’re only meant to look for any White Fang enclaves here...” Weiss began.</p><p>“...or other criminal movement...” Blake interjected, Weiss frowning briefly, before accepting her unspoken commentary on that not every criminal act was by the faunus. It was a sticking point since Blake revealed her history, but they had to accept that Weiss had a good reason why she automatically accused them, given how the White Fang clashed with her family.</p><p>Weiss was getting better about her attitude though, even if there were moments where she’d slipped back into some old habits or assumptions. But, to be fair to her, Sun hadn’t exactly helped things; with how he’d… thumbed his nose at authority during that unofficial mission, along with casual pilfering of various items.</p><p>“...So other, more experienced, teams can deal with it. This is not like your habit of attracting Torchwick...” Weiss finished, “And if we do find Torchwick here, all of you get a choice of one of my dust vials or crystals… Especially you, Blake. I can accept when I’m wrong,”</p><p>Ruby sighed, but nodded her head. Yang slightly chuckled at how Weiss had outright admitted, if Ruby did manage to somehow find her accidental nemesis, she’d accept she was wrong in the usual fashion.</p><p>“Plus, with all the noise you’re making here, they’re likely waiting for us to come out of the room...” Yang stated, looking towards the four doors out of the room, sighing as she realised they’d need to do a full patrol, “Each of us takes a door. If you find something, send an SOS with your Scroll, unless you know they can’t see you...”</p><p>They split up, only to find that standard protocol was useless, since the very moment that they turned on their Scrolls to keep in touch, for most of them, they discovered unshielded electrical cabling was interfering with the signal, and they got trapped in corridors that suddenly were blocked off.</p><p>Ruby, meanwhile, found herself in a medium sized room, which seemed to have been someone’s quarters. Some kind of pod was in there, in lieu of a bed, Ruby getting inside, placing Crescent Rose to one side, only to cry out as some kind of automated system picked it up and slid it into some kind of holster that folded out of the side of the compartment, a glass-like cover sliding shut over her, a tickling sensation coming to her head.</p><p>“My name is Drei. Please remove all clothing, and place in the side storage,” A comforting voice stated, as a compartment on the opposite side to where her weapon was stored opened, the compartment holding Crescent Rose being covered by a metal plate, which now somehow read ‘Crescent Rose’, and several pieces of information about it, Ruby’s emblem appearing at one end.</p><p>Once she’d put her clothes away, she felt an odd sensation pass over her, yawning before falling back onto the padded interior, the pod closing up, now marked with a red rose and Ruby’s name. It was that one fact which was why the rest of her team weren’t allowed to see it...</p><p> </p><p>“Please state your name, age and date of birth...” A different, flat, voice to Drei asked as Ruby woke back up.</p><p>“Ruby Rose, 15, October 31st...” She replied, woozily.</p><p>“Voiceprint confirmed...” The voice stated, a bright light causing Ruby to wake up fully. She noticed she was dressed in a tight red and black suit of some kind, her emblem on the left breast.</p><p>A girl with identically coloured hair to her own, but styled into a low ponytail, almost looking like a twin sister, was looking at her. Even her outfit matched.</p><p>“Welcome to the Quantum Realm...” The girl stated, her voice telling her it was Drei, helping her out of the pod, “I wish to admit that we may have caused your team to be paranoid,”</p><p>Drei then summoned what seemed to be a Scroll, except without the handles, and floating in mid-air. “Oh dear, Your sister is trying to smash the doors, trying to get out…”</p><p>“Well, you did...” Ruby began, before, blinking, she asked, “Wait, you’re in control of the facility?”</p><p>“There is no-one in control, per se, of the facility,” Another voice offered, “We induced a malfunction in the security systems to avoid disrupting the Augment process...”</p><p>An older woman, her emblem white, and her outfit being black and white, approached. The resemblance to the missing Summer Rose, and the fact she had on Summer’s emblem, making Ruby think the first thing that came to mind.</p><p>“Mom?!” Ruby stated, the woman shaking her head.</p><p>“No, My name is Einz. I am…” She started, before contemplating something, “Come with me, I need to show you something."</p><p>She then lead Ruby towards a second pod, which caused Ruby’s breath to catch. Beneath the emblem, it read simply, “Summer Rose”, along with some biographical information. It couldn’t be...</p><p>The cover slid aside to show her sleeping, dressed identically to Einz, the cover closing back up, surprisingly looking not much older than Ruby was, Ruby realising that, since she disappeared over a decade ago, she’d not be like her father, in her early 40’s.</p><p>“She found another facility, which had been seeded with our research, while near-death...” Einz offered, “She is in medical stasis, but, considering, is stable. Unfortunately, she cannot verify her identity when asleep, and she cannot be woken up except...”</p><p>“Enough about that. She’s alive, right?” Ruby began, looking towards them, for them to nod, “So, my mother has been...”</p><p>“You could consider it to be ‘staying with us on a semi-permanent basis’...” Einz offered, “Anyway, Augmenting…”</p><p>She called up an image of a red-and-black armoured figure fighting Grimm while stood back-to-back with a slightly taller white-and-black one, both wearing stylised cloaks, Ruby noticing the white rose on the back of the white figure. Einz somehow spun the image round them, to show Ruby the expected red rose on the other. Whatever it was, that was apparently her and Summer.</p><p>“This is what is called Full Augment,” Einz declared, “For all intents and purposes, you’d be a robot. Your physical body would be stored in the pod within this realm, while your mind would be within this shell,”</p><p>“You are able to summon parts of your Augment, which shifts that body part into the pod here. Doing it manually would be messy,” Drei supplied, “Also, you no longer need to deal with your locker...”</p><p>Ruby was about to ask how they knew about the lockers, then looked towards where her mother slept, before running her fingers over the image. When, and if, she woke up, Ruby would be able to fight alongside her mother against whatever almost killed her. She was about to wonder how she’d summon Crescent Rose, when it appeared in her hand, expanding and deploying it’s blade.</p><p>“Whoops...” She declared, the weapon compacting down and vanishing as quickly as it appeared, “Wow, I never got it to do that automatically...”</p><p>“You also were never a part-time gynoid, It was a simple task to make it work to whatever you need of it,” Drei offered, “Ahem, Your augmentation is finished, Please get into your pod so we can put you back in real-space...”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby woke up, again, looking round the bedroom.</p><p>“Please find somewhere to sit or lie down. The pod will leave real-space in 10… 9...” Drei stated in her head, Ruby getting into a chair, “Auto-summoning clothes, Your sister has located the room, and we do not want complications,”</p><p>Ruby’s attire shifted from the ‘uniform’ she’d been using in the other world to her normal attire as Yang arrived in the room, looking sheepish, Ruby having watched the pod fold in on itself, before vanishing into nothingness.</p><p>“The Scrolls must have had a less than desirable effect on some dormant security system...” Yang offered, when Ruby looked up in surprise, “Place is practically abandoned...”</p><p>“No problem,” Ruby stated, mentally grinning from ear-to-ear. She knew what she'd ask Einz and Drei when they got back...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Summer Days, Ruby Nights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And now we have the aftermath of the mission, and Summer!<br/>Something to note in the early chapters is what happens when people touch particular things, and what people keep avoiding touching.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they got back to Beacon, she summoned and banished her weapon, smiling at how it was like an eager Zwei, the normal toggle having disappeared. A brief thought had her lower arm be encased in circuitry, before she had what, to most people, what looked like a prosthetic, with a set of controls under part of the plating, but a test with a padded wall showed she could still feel things like her normal arm, which she summoned back with a similar thought, the plating retreating seemingly after the circuitry had.</p><p>‘You learn quickly… Your mother would, possibly, tell you to please try to refrain from using the Augment during school hours...’ Einz stated, ‘Then I consider what I get from your mother when I visit her thoughts while she’s in stasis...’</p><p>Ruby refrained from laughing, as she realised that her mother likely was itching to use her own Augment, before having a thought, as Einz mentioning visiting her.</p><p>‘Can you possibly connect me with her thoughts?’ She asked, looking round her dorm room.</p><p>‘There is a way we can do that. Visualize this room, we can create it in a simulated space, and… ahem… All you need to do is invite her in...’ Einz explained.</p><p> </p><p>For what seemed like decades, Summer had been in an endless battle against the Grimm, effectively dreaming of her time as a Huntress almost constantly, only to find herself abruptly walking into a dorm room in Beacon. She could recognise the style immediately. However, two things came to her notice almost as immediately.</p><p>The first was the almost chaotic attempt at bunk beds, one of them held together by stacking books, the other having one of the beds hung over it in a chaotic attempt at a canopy bed. The second was the teenage girl sat with a red metal object in her lap, which Summer suspected was their weapon...</p><p>“Hello, Mum...” Ruby began, Summer noticing two things straight away. First, Ruby was slightly younger than she’d expected, probably Ozpin pulling strings again, and how she personally was only a few years older than her, instead of nearly pushing 40.</p><p>“Is this...” Summer began.</p><p>“My dorm room, not Heaven...” Ruby stated, “A pre-Remnant research project saved you, and we’re able to enter your mind since you’re in a coma-like state… Well, that’s what Einz said...”</p><p>An unknown woman that seemed to be almost a lost sister entered the dorm room. “My name is Einz. I have been observing you during your recovery, and found you in the building you… almost… died in. Hopefully, in the near future, we can collaborate outside this simulated reality...”</p><p>“Anyway, About my team. For one, my sister is in my team. She’s the one who sleeps in the proper bunk. I use the canopy...” Ruby stated, as Einz left.</p><p>“Isn’t she two years older than you?” Summer asked.</p><p>“Eh heh heh, Funny thing that,” Ruby stated, “There was this little incident with a criminal in a dust shop. One of their henchmen ended up through the window since he interrupted me reading to rob me. That went... badly. For him,”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Summer stated, chuckling at how Ruby had overpowered someone probably twice her size in such a way, “Ozpin seems to have some thing about collecting people with silver eyes...”</p><p>“What is with that?” Ruby asked, Summer shrugging, not totally understanding herself, “Anyway, Under Yang we have Blake, who is a former member of the White Fang...”</p><p>When her mother glared at her, she waved for her to calm down.</p><p>“I'm serious, Mom! She’s a cat faunus!” Ruby stated, finding a picture she’d got of Blake with her bow removed.</p><p>“And who’s your fourth…” Summer mused, looking at the only other bed, and noticing the white luggage, and a familiar symbol on the dust containers stacked among it, “Let me guess… A Schnee?”</p><p>“Weiss, Yes...” Ruby stated, “She’s… getting better than she was at the start. She was <em>not</em> happy with me being team leader...”</p><p>“I knew Jacques Schnee when he was younger. Scum is a polite way to put him...” Summer stated.</p><p>“She’s much better than him... She's tolerable, but a bit stuck up,” Ruby tried, “Anyway, Something I wanted to show you...”</p><p>The red device she’d been holding unfolded into a massive scythe, as she seemed to transform into a black robot with red highlights on it’s armour, a red version of Summer’s emblem on one shoulder. Oh, This was something she could work with.</p><p>“This is my Augment… You have one as well…” Ruby stated, “The transformation, not the scythe. That’s Crescent Rose, I built it myself...”</p><p>"So, you attended the local academy then. Good," Summer stated, before mentally probing herself, feeling the presence of something foreign, and thought of what she saw in front of her, and soon she felt herself changing, now a white robot with red highlights in the same place as Ruby had.</p><p>“Whoa...” Ruby stated, as Summer entered a sparring stance, Ruby shrugging and the bunk beds seemed to vanish. After a brief thought, the dust vials among Weiss's luggage did as well. The luggage also vanished <em>after</em> they destroyed it...</p><p> </p><p>A few hours later, Ruby was grinning from ear to ear. Partway through the match, Einz and Drei walked in, talking them through the capabilities of the Augment as they fought. By the end of it, Ruby had come away the worse for wear, with Drei telling her not to use her Augment at all for a couple of days while it self-repaired, and a genuine respect for her mother’s abilities.</p><p>However, she’d also lost a wager her mother made, that had her going to Ozpin’s office and telling him about it. That’s what brought her, at the end of the semester, to be heading up the elevator.</p><p>‘<em>Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest,</em>’ Ruby mentally sang along to a melody Drei was playing in her head. It was decent music, unlike what most elevators dealt with.</p><p>“What is it, Ruby?” He asked, for her to shift, walking as her appearance changed to Full Augment, the helmet snapping back, a practiced maneuver.</p><p>“Something I found in the research facility a few weeks ago… It’s called an Augment. I would have come earlier, but I damaged it in a sparring match,” Ruby offered, “I wish to also add that my mother is alive, in a way... Well, She damaged it...”</p><p>“It will be up to you over when and if you notify your team about this Augment,” He stated, his eyebrow quirking about the fact she'd been sparring with her supposedly dead mother.</p><p>“I wish to request something of you...” She asked, "Can you summon my father and uncle? I need to show them something..."</p><p> </p><p>Once she’d left, he went to talk with Glynda.</p><p>“Ruby has managed to contact Summer from, in a way, beyond the grave…” He offered, “She also accidentally enrolled herself in a research project created what is classified as an Augment, which is a way to selectively, well, augment a human body with bionic parts, or transform them into a highly advanced robot version of themselves...”</p><p>He then discussed what Ruby had let him know, and they agreed that Augments would be discussed as and when it was needed.</p><p>“Contact Qrow Branwen and Taigong Wang,” Ozpin stated, "Tell them to get here urgently... and if Qrow is drunk..."</p><p> </p><p>Ruby looked at the space in the dorms, wondering why Summer had asked that Qrow and Taigong were there along with her team. The pod then appeared, the cover snapping open, for a buzzing to sound as a lock symbol appeared on the glass, before it snapped shut again.</p><p>“She’s alive... Goddammit, <em>Summer's alive!</em>” Qrow stated, Taigong seemingly shocked speechless, “Can you put her...”</p><p>“She will be staying here with Team RWBY until such time as she comes out of her coma...” Ozpin stated, “After that, she will be helping with specific lessons Ruby will likely require...”</p><p>“Look, Let’s not discuss where she’ll be. Ruby’s mother is alive!” Yang stated, walking over, pressing her fingers against the glass, the white rose seemingly etched into the glass shifting into Yang’s emblem for a moment before another buzz sounded, “That’s the awesome thing here… I don’t mind the lost space, since she’s my step-mom too... and I never got to know her,”</p><p>Ruby nodded. She’d work on explaining her Augment later.</p><p>‘Now your mother’s real-space pod is somewhere, her Augment is now in it’s proper location...’ Einz told her in her head, ‘When she wakes up, the real-space pod will automatically disassemble, similar to when you first got your Augment.’</p><p>That night, Ruby looked towards the glass and metal pod, smiling.</p><p>‘Do you want another talk in the dorm?’ Drei asked, Ruby shaking her head. The first one had given her all she wanted and more.</p><p>'I'm just wondering... Why did Mum's emblem change to Yang's when she touched it?' Ruby asked.</p><p>‘The Emblem is effectively a symbol of who the person is...’ Drei offered, ‘Other than that, I do not know... I did notice it got a reaction from the pod's lock. Leave it with me,’</p><p>‘Still, i don't need to talk to her right now... I have all the time in the world...’ Ruby stated, before falling asleep.</p><p> </p><p>As she dreamed, she had an image of a third Augment, this one in green and cream with an odd looking crest, and some kind of bladed drone weapon, fighting alongside her. She didn’t know why, but this other Augment caused feelings that fighting alongside her mother didn’t. Other than their appearance, she only got one thing from the dream...</p><p>A single, strange in context, word… That, somehow, felt familiar...</p><p>
  <em> <strong>“Salutations!”</strong> </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, Penny's coming in the next chapter.</p><p>I'm not totally happy with some parts of this, with the Ozpin scene being especially awkward. However, the important thing is that you might have worked out already how Summer will be woken up.<br/>Also, the Augment's design is never final. It can be altered by the user's will. This will also be important later.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Robots and Reunions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The first part of this chapter is paraphrased from 'A Minor Hiccup'...<br/>Of course, with Ruby having an Augment, she can shut down Penny's argument a <i>lot</i> more effectively...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Penny walked round the area of the CCT. She’d already got several people ask her about her hiccups when she tried to cover up why she was actually there, it was getting difficult to keep lying. As she was passing by the CCT tower, a Scroll bounced against her leg. She looked to see the worst people to have lost a Scroll right now...</p><p>“Oh, you dropped this...” She tried, Ruby already recognising her. This was bad, This was very bad.</p><p>“Penny!?” Ruby declared, “Where have you been?! We haven’t seen you since the night at the docks!”</p><p>“S-Sorry… I think you’re confused…” Penny tried, only for her hiccup to send the phone right back to Ruby, fleeing with a simple, “Uh, I’ve got to go…”</p><p>The problem was that Ruby seemed to not accept that, continuing to follow her, declaring, “Penny! Where have you been? It’s been weeks!”</p><p>“I think there’s been a misunderstanding…” Penny tried, managing to keep her comments neutral, neither honest or a lie.</p><p>“Penny, please, stop…” Ruby declared, stopping her with her hand, “Look, I don’t know what’s wrong, but you have to listen to me, Those guys at the docks… We think they’re up to something big, something bad… I need you to tell me what happened to you that night… Please, as a friend...”</p><p>Penny sighed. This was really hard. She couldn’t just lie to Ruby. This was totally different to that incident. They weren’t just accidentally meeting at the docks, Ruby was clearly following up on it. She sighed, offering, “It isn’t safe to talk here…”</p><p> </p><p>Ruby looked thoughtful as she headed to the place Penny had suggested, her mind going back to the recent dream. She then realised. Salutations. It was how Penny… normally greeted people. But she wasn’t a Hunter, like her or her mother, she was just a very cute friend who…</p><p>Ruby sighed. Where had that weird thought come from? She’d been having problems with her thoughts about various things, not helped by how she seemed to have better memory recall after her Augment. And her thoughts about Penny were still a jumble.</p><p>‘You’re being all too human with your thoughts about her… That’s why the Augment can’t just sort them out. When you're using it, you'll actually suppress thoughts like that,’ Drei offered, ‘Want me to set something up with Summer?’</p><p>‘No, I don’t want to disturb my mother, and... We have this investigation to do!’ Ruby stated, slightly too quickly. Drei sighed. She knew what was going on.</p><p> </p><p>Once she found Penny again, she started talking about the men, but Penny didn’t seem to know anything. The walk though was nice, with good company, and she’d not needed Crescent Rose or her Augment at all. Apparently, Penny’s father was the whole reason she had just vanished after the dock battle ended, since she’d broke a curfew or something. Who cared?</p><p>When she brought up that she wasn’t meant to talk with them, Ruby noted she didn’t hiccup even once. From this detail, Ruby had already guessed that whenever Penny wasn’t being completely honest about something, she would start to hiccup. So, she was punished by being told not to contact anyone. They then came to something that was really interesting. A talk by General Ironwood on security droids!</p><p>Oh, how much she wished that Penny was awesome cool like those robots! And the Knights… Ooh, Ooh, and the Paladin! That was awesome. She’d really look forward to when she met one of those...</p><p>“Ruby…” Penny stated, clearly trying to be like Yang, Blake, Weiss… OK, practically everyone who had noticed she didn’t collect magazines with boys in them, she collected weapon magazines. What was wrong with staring at items that could kill in minutes?</p><p>Half the students had borrowed one or other of the magazines she read in the library, and never for casual browsing.</p><p>“Ruby! I think we should go somewhere else…” Penny stated, as some of the security personnel abruptly started to approach them. Ruby looked worried. What had Penny got herself into?</p><p>She was about to ask her, when she fled into a nearby alleyway.</p><p>“Penny! Where are you going? What’s going on?” Ruby stated, preparing to activate her Augment if things went wrong. She could tell they were humans, she heard them talking. So she’d just not use her full strength.</p><p>However, A quick burst of her Semblance had got them to what she hoped was safety, only for her to almost get run over, Ruby preparing to activate her Augment. It would only get slightly dented, she’d got worse sparring with her mother, She would just need to avoid any major fights for a hour or two…</p><p>That was until Penny stopped the truck cold just holding out her arms, the truck’s motion arrested in seconds, the front crumpled.</p><p>‘OK, That was awesome…’ Ruby thought to herself, ‘Unnecessary, but awesome…’</p><p>“Penny, come back!” Ruby stated, noticing she’d continued to run, making a call to Ozpin, telling him that she’d seen Penny use her Aura to stop a truck, and to have someone find some way to explain it away. She also let him know that, no, she’d not used her Augment, so he didn’t have to explain that as well.</p><p>Once she caught up with her, she called out, “Penny! What is going on? Why are you running? Why are Atlas after you?”</p><p>“Everything’s fine… I don’t want to talk about it,” Penny tried, between hiccups. Oh, she was a mess, an adorable mess, but still a mess. She almost wanted to go Full Augment. Her thoughts were a lot simpler then, and she didn’t get weird thoughts about her friends.</p><p>“If you’d just tell me what’s wrong, I can help you!” Ruby declared.</p><p>“No, No, You wouldn’t understand…” Penny tried.</p><p>“You’d be surprised. Trust me, please…” Ruby offered. She didn’t like seeing Penny like this. All flustered about some big secret.</p><p>“You’re my friend, right? You promise… You’re my friend?” Penny snapped, almost getting in her face, she was that afraid of… whatever it was.</p><p>“I promise…” Ruby stated.</p><p>“Ruby, I’m not…” Penny began, as she showed metal exposed by the damage to her palms.</p><p>“That’s all? You’re angsting about something little like that…” Ruby stated, “Get some gloves! No-one will notice a thing...”</p><p>“I’m a robot!” Penny declared, “A machine, like those droids at the demonstration!”</p><p>“If you’re just a robot...” Ruby declared, smiling, Penny’s eyes going wide as her entire appearance shifted, becoming a red and black robot with a cloak similar to Ruby’s normal one.</p><p>“Then what am I?…” Ruby’s voice stated, now tinged with electronic distortion, Penny realising that, right now, Her friend was <em>also</em> a robot.</p><p>“How?” Penny asked. A beeping sound then came from somewhere, Ruby touching the side of her helmet.</p><p>“What’s wrong?… You found Torchwick… and he’s...” Ruby stated, before cutting off the transmission, “Yang, Blake, Goddammit, I wanted my first encounter with a Paladin to be where I get to fight alongside it, not taking one apart!”</p><p>“Ruby...” Penny declared, “What do you mean by that?”</p><p>“No time… Meet me at Beacon Academy. And get some gloves.” Ruby stated, before shooting off in the direction of the CCT.</p><p>“What… What just happened then?” Penny wondered, her systems showing several errors in processing what Ruby had just done.</p><p>She then paused, realising something. Ruby had literally seen she was a robot, and just told her to get some gloves to hide the damage, before proving that, to her, being a robot wasn’t the issue. Nothing had changed between them. As she said, If she was <em>just</em> a robot, like the security droids, what was Ruby when she changed. She’d scanned Ruby, and it had confirmed that she was like her. A robot that had it’s own Aura.</p><p>Even more intriguing… was that she could switch between the two. She’d seen something about that in the notes her father had been studying once. She had to look into those notes. Oh yes, and get those gloves. Now, where was there a shop that had some good gloves… Oh wait...</p><p>She’d get her gloves and check up on those notes once the soldiers General Ironwood sent to bring her back had done their job. She didn’t know why, but Ruby’s demonstration had awoken something inside her. She was more than a friend, she was a beacon of hope for her...</p><p>That she was not just a robot. Since, if she was <em>just</em> a robot, just another Atlasian military asset…</p><p>So was Ruby for Vale's own military. And she was most definitely <em><b>not</b></em> just a robot, she'd proven that...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Robot Wars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I will admit to not depicting the fight between Torchwick and Team RWBY, since I had no clue how.</p><p>Concerning the comment Torchwick gives at the start, it's a plot hole that really should have been addressed, namely how Cinder is overly literal about the fact the dust isn't needed. And anything else they gather for the plan is destroyed in one fell swoop during the Breach. It's incredibly wasteful unless there was no point to gathering it except to incite massive Grimm attacks.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When he noticed the bright yellow of Yang in the group, he'd initially not noticed Blake, until he remembered the incident at the docks, and mentally kicked himself. Of course, if Red's team had a faunus in it, they'd know about where recruitment was done. And as a result, yet another of Cinder's bright ideas was going to go down the toilet. As he chased them down with the Paladin, he hoped he’d be able to raise some hell.</p><p>
  <span>He paused, contemplating something. </span>
  <span>If he was right, and his dust thefts were </span>
  <span>
    <em>literally</em>
  </span>
  <span> completely and utterly pointless, and that massive cache of dust they had went unused… </span>
  <span>He’d take Neo and enrol her for real in Haven Academy, and whatever Cinder’s big plan was, He’d not be taking part.</span>
</p><p>“Neo, Something stinks about this whole situation...” He stated on the internal communications line, “Cinder has me steal enough dust to supply the entire White Fang, but it’s just sitting in a warehouse...”</p><p>He then hung up as he noticed a fast moving object approaching the Paladin, only to blink and check his readouts when an unknown black robot approached, restoring a very familiar red cloak as it came to a stop. Every one of his sensors was detecting some kind of advanced prototype, but the helmet folded back, to show Red’s face.</p><p>“<span>What the bloody hell...” He declared, calling Neo again, “Neo, G</span><span>et the dust</span><span> back into the system as soon as possible, cause the market to reverse it’s trend, the</span><span>n persuade Emerald and Mercury to transfer to either Beacon or Haven. Cinder’s plan is not worth it. It’s going to fail, and we’re going to be the ones hurt due to it,”</span></p><p> </p><p>“What the hell, sis!?” Yang declared, “What did you get involved in?”</p><p>“Remember that research lab?” Ruby stated, “That pod, this… It’s all to do with that...”</p><p>She then paused, holding a hand to one ear, before stating, “When we get back, We’ll talk about it,”</p><p>The Paladin then turned tail and began to retreat, Ruby’s helmet snapping back into place. Her previous adoration was squashed by her Augment, since she needed to think more about the mission. She knew it wasn't mission-ready, but she needed the emotional detachment...</p><p> </p><p>At the same time, General Ironwood glared at Penny, who was looking very worried.</p><p>“What did I tell you, categorically, when you were noticed with the team from Beacon Academy?” He declared, slowly and carefully.</p><p>“Not to talk with Ruby, Weiss, Blake or Yang?” Penny offered, looking sheepish, “Would you believe she started it? She wanted to know what I knew about the incident at the docks!”</p><p>His eyebrow raised at the fact she didn’t hiccup. It was known by practically anyone that Penny was an abysmal liar.</p><p>“Nothing else really happened...” She began, then hiccuped, before, correcting herself, “Well, except stopping that truck with my bare hands...”</p><p>“Considering what Hunters do...” General Ironwood mused, “It’s likely already been covered up...”</p><p>“Otherwise, there’s nothing else to report...” Penny tried, only to hiccup again. His eyes narrowed. There <em>was</em> something else.</p><p>“Are you trying to hide anything from me?” He tried, a deliberate leading question.</p><p>“I am not trying to hide anything from you...” Penny replied, Ironwood not noticing her realise that she’d found a way round the difficult question. She was trying to hide something from the Atlesian Military, in Ruby’s new status, but that wasn’t what he asked.</p><p>“You are dismissed...” He stated. He suspected it was to do with her requisitioning some gloves instead of automatically going for repairs.</p><p> </p><p>Once she was out of his office, she headed for her father’s laboratory.</p><p>“Excuse me, father… Where’s that research you found, that helped you give me Aura?” Penny asked.</p><p>“Any particular reason you’re asking?” Dr. Polendina asked.</p><p>“It’s for a research project...” Penny replied, the lack of a hiccup making him take out Penny’s seldom-used Scroll, slotting it into his computer.</p><p>“Now, this is highly sensitive information. Once you’ve given it to the researcher, you are to remove it immediately from your Scroll. It’ll delete itself once it’s been copied once anyway...” Dr. Polendina offered, “Damn Ironwood, keeping me in the dark about half of what he does. Likely trying to improve those new security droids of his...”</p><p>She headed out as her father grumbled about the non-existent rival to his research.</p><p> </p><p>That evening, Yang looked at her sister, while slumped against Summer’s pod, the display flickering angrily between Yang’s Emblem and Summer’s, the buzzer having shut itself off.</p><p>“OK, Spill, What’s really going on with our mother turning up? Is it really our mother?” Yang asked.</p><p>“First, yes, It is Mum,” Ruby stated, “Thankfully, damage doesn’t transfer between states, or I’d have been in the infirmary for a week after she tested out the limits of the Augment...”</p><p>Yang thought about something, then nodded. Even she knew quite how much someone could get hurt in a sparring match if they didn’t use their Aura. And the Augment seemed to not be very conductive to using Aura, but also could boost other capabilities to match. She then heard a knock at the door.</p><p>“Umm, Ruby invited me to come see you…” Penny stated, for her to look at Summer, “Why is Ruby’s older sister there?”</p><p>“You’re forgiven for thinking that… It’s actually her mother,” Yang stated, “Long story, was about to ask Ruby to explain it...”</p><p>“And I’d invited Penny to discuss it. Penny, can you deploy Floating Array, then shut it off while it’s still outside you?” Ruby asked, the swords clattering to the floor as the power was cut.</p><p>“How did they fit inside that small backpack?” Yang asked.</p><p>“Penny, will you take off one of your gloves?” Ruby asked, Yang’s eyes popping as she realised why Penny was invited, “Yang, go get Weiss and Blake...”</p><p>Once Yang had left, Ruby summoned part of her Augment on one arm, summoning a pod.</p><p>“Hey, that’s in the file Father gave me...” Penny asked, “Can I have a look at it?”</p><p>“Put Floating Array in the left hand compartment inside...” Ruby stated, pressing something on her arm. As Penny got inside, and put away her weapon, she cried out as the pod closed, and read Penny’s identity, the pod glitching for a moment, then she felt a pulse of some kind, and Penny slumped in the pod.</p><p>‘Localized EMP,’ Drei stated, ‘Her Aura was sourced from somewhere else, but we’ve managed to correct the issue. Can’t exactly induce sleep in a robot...’</p><p>Yang entered with Blake and Weiss as Drei was telling her that, Ruby stating, “What you didn’t see that day… The pod induces sleep in the person it scans, then...”</p><p>The outer metal cover closed up, and a bar began to strobe at the bottom of the pod, as a timer counted down. “I almost wish I could summon Einz or Drei to help here...”</p><p>Yang snickered, for Ruby to go, “Yes, I know. They’re assistants, created based on the person who is being processed, who help...”</p><p>“Ruby! It’s an emergency!” A girl who looked like Penny said as an image appeared in the place of the emblem on the pod, “Penelope is having a panic attack!”</p><p>“Robots don’t have...” Ruby began.</p><p>“Apparently, we discovered a side effect of the Augment process…” The girl offered, “She’s confused, frightened and all kinds of other things, and she doesn’t know what half of it is!”</p><p>“The Augment process turns someone into a robot version of themselves...” Ruby mused.</p><p>“And apparently, turns a robot into a human version of themselves in order to be able to do the rest...” The girl replied.</p><p>“Send her into the simulated dormitory, and have her spend some time with Summer…” Ruby stated, on the verge of a panic attack herself, “I didn’t mean to cause any of this...”</p><p>“Simulated dormitory?” Weiss asked, “Why do you have a simulated dormitory?”</p><p>“It’s where Summer’s mind stays while her body is dormant...” Ruby gasped, her appearance shifting to the robot they saw earlier, before she said, her voice returning to normal, “Yep, Both me and Penny need some time with Mum...”</p><p>“How the hell aren’t you panicking any more?” Weiss snapped.</p><p>“Emotionless machine right now...” Ruby stated, “Well, lack of emotions enough to not be guilt tripping myself...”</p><p>She then opened a compartment in her chest, taking out a set of bracelets, one in each of their colours. “This isn’t going to be just me this time… Lie down on your beds, and put those on. It’ll connect to the simulated dormitory shortly afterwards, and we can continue this discussion...”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The bracelets induce an effect similar to how Summer exists within the simulated space for the wearers, unlike Ruby or Penny, who are physically there. The simulated reality is hosted, unknown to anyone, in the non-volatile memory storage of Summer's pod, and will be destroyed when it collapses.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Human Condition</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Summer knew something was going on as she woke up again in the dormitory, looking to see a red-haired girl was lying in Ruby’s bed, legs clutched tightly to her body, hiccupping sobs coming from her.</p><p>“Hello, My name’s Summer. What’s the problem?” She asked.</p><p>“I… I’m not sure how to quantify it...” The girl offered, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of the bodysuit that told her she was Augmented, “Half of the things I’ve experienced in the past…”</p><p>The girl paused, before muttering, “That’s another oddity. I can’t access my chronometer...”</p><p>“That’s because humans don’t have internal chronometers...” The girl who had helped deal with her initial freak-out stated, “I am, you could say, Pino Polendina.”</p><p>“I’m a robot...” The girl protested, for Pino to pick up a knife from Weiss’s things, and prick the end of the girl’s finger, causing her to suck it reflexively, looking to see a drop of blood.</p><p>“The reason you are having problems with mood swings is that you aren’t simulating emotions, they’re just all happening...” Pino offered, “You might find that the reactions you have to people are very different to when you <em>are</em> a robot...”</p><p>“Is this like...” The girl asked, Pino nodding, “Did Ruby ask me to put Floating Array aside...”</p><p>“So you’d have access to your primary weapons systems in either state...” Ruby stated, as she walked into the dorms along with her team. Summer watched as Yang initially showed an air of professional detachment. Summer then motioned her towards Weiss’s bed… and her facade collapsed.</p><p>“Hmm… So, humans cry like that all the time?” The girl asked Pino, who responded with, “When they have an excessive emotional response to something, crying seems to be how a human body calms it down...”</p><p>“Mom, that is Penny, Penny, you’ve met my mom...” Ruby offered, “She was in a form of suspended animation for over a decade, so...”</p><p>“That’s why I look not much older than her actual older sister...” Summer offered, as Yang calmed down.</p><p>“So, care to explain why we’re in a simulated version of our dorm room?” Weiss asked.</p><p>“Since I can’t exactly talk to you in person…” Summer stated, “Can’t give the passphrase, so…”</p><p>“Right…” Yang almost stammered, “It’s good to see you…”</p><p>“If you got yourself augmented, you could enter this space all you wanted. I have nothing better to do…” Summer offered, Yang shaking her head, “Anyway, The Augment…”</p><p>She then turned into what could best be described as a ‘white’ version of what they’d see Ruby as. Pino mumbled something to Penny, for her to change into a green and cream bodysuit, her swords appearing out of nowhere floating like a pair of wings behind her.</p><p>“This works so much better than Dr. Polendina could do...” Penny muttered, watching as the blades shifted together and apart, moving completely illogically to how a sword should move, “Even my own design is enhanced...”</p><p>“When you get out of here, You’ll be a real girl… and still retain the ability to stop a truck with your bare hands, just try to use your Aura, not Augment…” Summer stated, “Ruby, can you go out of the dorm room, and give Ozpin one of the devices?”</p><p>Ruby nodded, before she was engulfed in a flash of light.</p><p>“Now, Yang, tell me about Taiyang, Qrow and Raven...” Summer stated.</p><p>“Dad’s fine, Qrow and Raven, not too sure. Hell, I’d love to talk with my mother one day, if she didn’t up and leave me...” Yang half-grumbled.</p><p>“Oh dear...” Summer stated, “I suspect she might have rejoined her tribe. I didn’t exactly plan for any of this...”</p><p>“How do you plan for being put in stasis for a decade and change?” Yang offered, “At least I have one mother who knows what I needed,”</p><p>“Summer, you might be able to help us...” Weiss offered, “We’re having problems with someone who goes by the name Cinder. She’s been causing all kinds of unrest...”</p><p>“Cinder isn’t the problem...” Summer stated firmly, “Does there seem to be no pattern to the trouble she’s causing except that it’s causing people to become angry?”</p><p>“She pretty much stole several tons of Dust purely to cause a shortage. We saw her outright tell Torchwick that they didn’t need the dust...” Blake mused.</p><p>“What one thing attracts Grimm like honey and bees?” Summer asked.</p><p>“That’s first semester stuff… Negative e...” Weiss began, then they looked between them with a look of horror.</p><p>“She’s working for a woman named Salem...” Summer began, as she told them the truth about all the problems they were having.</p><p> </p><p>An hour later, not helped by the lift to Ozpin’s office, Ozpin found himself walking in on Summer, who was sparring with most of team RWBY, along with Penny.</p><p>“I wish to request a transfer of a new student to Beacon Academy, Penny Polendina…” Summer offered, “She’ll be able to recover faster from her random breakdowns with her friends near her...”</p><p>“If I am able to sort out her side of the transfer, Unofficially, everyone here will be classified as Team Raspberry… R.S.P.B.R.Y.” He declared, “Hope you don’t mind, Summer, Weiss, but I used your last names…”</p><p>“No problem…” Weiss stated.</p><p>“I think General Ironwood might not like it…” Penny offered.</p><p>“You’re your own person…” Ozpin declared.</p><p> </p><p>When Ozpin left the dorm room, he called General Ironwood.</p><p>“What do you mean by saying that a classified form of enhancement that you are testing has turned Ms. Polendina into an actual person?” He snapped.</p><p>Ozpin slotted his Scroll, with the data he’d got off Summer and Penny. into the terminal, Ironwood looking it over.</p><p>“Oh, that…” Ironwood stated, “Managed to find a functional example… OK, I approve the transfer to Beacon Academy for Penny Polendina…”</p><p> </p><p>When he returned to Team RSPBRY’s dormitory, they were having an impromptu party for Penny, who was, among other things, figuring out what kinds of things she liked to eat, thanks to a late night raid on the school cafeteria.</p><p>“Now, Penny, Strictly speaking, I cannot deploy more than four people per team,” Ozpin stated, noting Penny’s pod was nowhere to be found, guessing that Summer’s pod was only present since she was in it, “I will need the help of you and Summer, as well as Einz, Drei and Pino, with a project of the utmost importance…”</p><p>Penny nodded. “As far as assignments go, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, you will remain as Team RWBY,” Ozpin stated, “Once Penny has finished the work I have her doing, she will be attached to your team,”</p><p>He then left, noticing Yang fingering the device that had allowed her to be brought into the virtual dormitory. Hopefully, soon, Summer would be properly revived…</p><p>It was not good for either Ruby or Yang, having her at literally arm’s length...</p><p> </p><p>After everyone but Penny had gone to sleep, Penny since she was still uncomfortable with remaining human for long periods, Ozpin was sat in the simulated dormitory with her and Summer, who just waved off the need for sleep with the fact she spent all day doing it.</p><p>“I told them about Salem,” Summer stated, “Cinder Fall is working to cause the people to turn against their leaders, and, in the process, cause a massive Grimm outbreak. If she’s successful, we’ll see a collapse of what order we do have...”</p><p>Ozpin nodded. He had seen some of the signs himself, and knew what she’d likely be after. That’s why he’d planned to meet with them in reality.</p><p>“Some low quality intel that Blake and Yang got placed something in this area...” He stated, taking out a map, for her to point to Mountain Glenn, before running a finger down in a line from there to Beacon.</p><p>“The railway tunnel...” He muttered, “Dammit. Pretty much know Team RSPBRY will try to be the ones who’ll be doing a mission in the area...”</p><p>“Have some patrols operating in the area where the train is likely to breach,” Summer offered, “Also, look into having General Ironwood do some military drills in the area, with a simulated bombing run on the city. They’re likely in the slums, so all it will do is give them quite a shock...”</p><p>“Now what I’m really here about...” He stated, “You know about Amber?...”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>OK, That was very much unexpected for the culmination of Penny’s canon storyline. <i><b>The Winter Maiden.</b></i> Daymn. Looking forward to the next season.</p><p>Obviously, Unlike canon, Summer would be a lot more seasoned, and would be able to see Salem's endgame almost straight away, and would likely know about Mountain Glenn. Effectively, The Breach is likely to suffer a lot of setbacks.<br/>Over the recent events in the series, I am not sure if Penny will still end up a Maiden, we'll see how my muse compares to Rooster Teeth's.</p><p>The next parts:<br/>'Date Night'<br/>'Danse Macabre'<br/>'Battle Of The Airwaves'</p><p>Coming soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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